Coelognathus helena
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The trinket snake (Coelognathus helena), also known commonly as the common trinket snake, is a species of nonvenomous constricting snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to southern Central Asia. The specific name of this snake, helena, is thought to be a reference to Helen of Troy, considered by many to be the epitome of female beauty and the most beautiful woman in the world.
C. helena is found in Sri Lanka, southern India, Pakistan (Shangla), Nepal, and Bangladesh. Its type locality is "India: Vishakhapatnam" (Daudin, 1803). See snake scales for terms used. C. helena has the following scalation. The rostral is a little broader than deep, and visible from above. The suture between the internasals is much shorter than that between the prefrontals. The frontal is as long as its distance from the end of the snout, but shorter than the parietals. The loreal is somewhat longer than deep. One large preocular and two postoculars are present. The temporals are arranged 2+2 or 2+3. There are 9 (exceptionally 10 or 11) upper labials, and the fifth and sixth (or fourth, fifth, and sixth) enter the eye. There are 5 or 6 lower... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bondla Zoo | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Nehru Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Trinket Snake sighting in Mumbai on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 19th most-seen of the 23 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, May, July, October and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Trinket Snake in Mumbai on a given day, against under 5% in January–February, April, June, August–September and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Trinket Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
5th of 5
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Trinket Snake sightings, Mumbai ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Pune (India, about 30%), Dehradun (India, about 30%) and Thrissur (India, about 30%).
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Trinket Snake that you can see in Mumbai (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Dhaman (about 20%), Chequered Keelback (about 20%) and Buff Striped Keelback (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Trinket Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Mumbai (5 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
